‘My Facebook feed has become dismal. And yet I can’t stop reading’

I don’t get out much these days – having two small children sees to that – but it’s nice to know what others are up to. On New Year’s Day, my Facebook feed was all parties, fireworks, smiling faces, and best wishes. Then I closed the app and dragged it to the rubbish bin.

The irony is that New Year is one of the few times when people actually post something on Facebook. Most of the year, my feed is a long, tedious scrawl of brands, news stories, viral videos and adverts for sofas that stalk me around the internet because I once looked at the John Lewis website.

A few hardy souls still battle their way through the clutter to write updates, but the platform has become dismal.

And yet I can’t stop reading. More fool me. You know it’s a problem when, with 15 seconds to kill, you find yourself reaching for the phone; the mindless scroll sucks you in.

I gave up Facebook for a month last year and my head felt clearer. I’m now doing it again, for at least a month. I’d quit Twitter too, if I didn’t need it for work. The only reason to go back, and why I won’t delete my account, is that Facebook is still an incredibly simple way of sharing news and keeping in touch with friends you don’t see often.

I’m a big believer that people need to make connections in the real world. I worry that we are losing that habit. As Barack Obama urged last month – go to the pub instead. Or the gym. Or a book club.

I take hope from the fact that people are starting to debate these issues, and I predict that a “Dry-fi January” for tech will become the norm – perhaps even a movement. Even Facebook admitted late last year that passive “lurking” on the site is bad for you.

But, short of flashing messages up on the screen warning you to take a time out, it’s hard to see how it will change. Far easier to bin that icon from your screen, and do something – anything – else instead.